netslum | 11/24, evening

11/24, evening

Hellooooo Fragment~

I am so sorry to announce that the news of my demise has been greatly exaggerated!

Not that I can blame anyone, of course! I was not, in fact, 100% certain that Lily would reach out and pluck me away at the very edge of death, and yet! As it would turn out, I was and continue to be correct!

Well, only about certain things. Just. Not everything.

Regardless, I have some news that I must bring to you straight from Lily's own core.

[ This message has been specifically brought to you via the forum because that way no one can even begin to guess how upset Fandaniel is, mmhm, perfect. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( If anyone was going to fake die it'd be Fandaniel, of course. )

1) What news?

2) Are you still convinced Cubia loves you?

[ Always with this fuckin' guy... ]

1) Harald was the one that was using Lily to collect the data from the Phases. Killing Cubia will not free of us this world. We must deal with Harald, too.

2) Lily did love me. He is who healed me and gave me his core — his heart or, at least, the closest an AI can have to a human one — so that I could warn you all. It cost him much to do this.

And as an extra 3) I will not so much as suggest that anyone offer forgiveness. He knew it could never be granted to him for his actions. He knows his death is inevitable now.

[ This is him trying to cut Mithrun off before he can continue speaking wretchedly of Lily, because he's gone, he's gone, he's already... ]

Edited 2023-11-25 00:18 (UTC)

So your suggestion of the narrative is that Cubia was being used and didn't realize it. Cubia is therefore blameless in all his actions.

That's interesting. How does he explain acting with intentional malice toward the individuals here, given you and he want to argue he has a heart?

If he gave you his "core," what are you, where is he, and what state is he in?

Where is Harald now? His "room" Cubia cannot access?

Edited 2023-11-25 00:21 (UTC)

There you go making assumptions. Lily is not blameless. He knows this.

But I refuse to let you tell me who did and did not love me, and who I can and cannot love. He will always be my little brother, no matter what. Regardless, I have Lily's core. What remains is Cubia, in his true form.

Where he went after his human form crumbled, I do not know. I suspect it'll be wherever this room of Harald's is.

[ But... what is he? What in the world kind of question is that? ]

His core didn't change who or what I am. All it gave me were his memories.

So you're suggesting that Cubia and "Lily" are different personae of the same being? Where, exactly, are you drawing the line between the two?

( He can accept the facts. Those are fine. It doesn't change that someone here is going to die. Possibly multiple someones.

Presuming Fandaniel is being honest (and who fucking knows if he is): )

You keep saying he isn't "blameless," but that's excessively generous, obscured by affection. He is guilty for the things he has done. If you want to personify him, then he's as culpable for his actions as anyone else would be. Do you have argument with this?

I suspect Harald and the remnants of Cubia will make themselves known at their leisure, then. Is this correct?

Let me have this, Morgan. If I cannot separate the two, I will not be able to stand against him with the rest of you.

[ How much of "Lily" is left in Cubia, he does not know. Possibly none, now that he's given his core to Fandaniel, perhaps leaving only the creature made only to torment and destroy at Harald's command. Ultimately, they could argue what it will and will not be all day, and still end up being surprised. ]

Have you left behind your ability to comprehend language? I have no argument. He agreed he was guilty. Nothing I would have said to him would have shaken this belief, nor would I, now that I have his memories.

This does not stop me from loving him still but my own emotions matter only to me, not to any of you, so leave them where they are.

[ With him, only him... ]

But yes. I suspect the same thing, and soon, too. Now that Fidchell has been defeated, they are all that remain. We must destroy them and with them, this world.

( Mithrun has no further reply because he can see his and Barrett's thread further down the post and he's pissed off at the both of them right now, and he's not going to get into an argument about whether he should or shouldn't care about Lily because he does agree - it's not Mithrun's business. All it does is anchor Mithrun's esteem of Fandaniel as low, but considering he's as mad at Cubia as he is because of the things Cubia did to Barrett, and Barrett is off to commiserate or whatever with Fandaniel over Cubia, and Mithrun sees Cubia and Lily as one in the same - just as he sees the Phase and its host as one in the same - well. That makes his anger a bit circular, doesn't it?

Enjoy your smackings at the hot springs, FD. Mithrun's going to touch some virtual grass or something. )

[A gentle hand presses against his shoulders outside the forums, a slow rub back and forth.

He's not intervening in this argument. There's thing's here that need to be known. But it won't do anyone any good if Mithrun blew up here, Mithrun himself least of all.]

( It does seem to calm Mithrun down some when the touch is administered, but when he sees Barrett and Fandaniel's thread further down the post, he will take off for a walk or something in one of the Root Towns. He won't be there when Barrett departs, presumably. )

What do you mean 'we must deal with Harald too'?

What's his part to play in all this?

Harald is the reason we are trapped.

It was never within Lily's power to free us from this place. If it means killing him as well or forcing him to release us, I do not know, but there will be no real victory until we've confronted him.

Then, he's the one who brought the order down? Or engineered it?

Assuming this is all true or whatever else about this, that'd just leave Harald, and whatever he can still use.

Do you know anything about his weaknesses, or whatever is left of Cubia? And, were you given hints about where this room of Harald's is too?

Both, I would imagine.

If this was not coordinated with CC Corp in some way, surely they would be more involved in attempting to rescue us. Allowing every single one of your beta testers to go into comas and even die by no means makes stockholders happy.

Us becoming trapped was undoubtedly a part of the plan from the very beginning.

Weaknesses? Hints? No... If Lily's memories were only so practical. It hasn't offered me any insight that specific.

Did Harald ever tell anything about why he trapped us here??

Urgh, honestly, this is seriously pissing me off.

How are we supposed to even find where this guy is in the first place?!

Only that all the data was meant for Harald.

Perhaps he sees us as nothing more than rats to put into his mazes again and again until there's nothing left. Test every theory, gather the data, compile, and then request a new set to go through.

I'm sick and tired of being jerked around.

Harald, Cubia, including what or who the hell ever could be next in the way...they better pick a god and pray. Because there won't be anything left of any obstacle that dares block the way back home.

Then you and I are in agreement.

I know how I have been acting in the past but please believe me, I mean to leave this world alongside the rest of you now.

...I remember how you acted like an ass before, yeah. I haven't forgotten and how it pissed me off.

Anyway, if you had different intentions, you'd be just trying to convince us to stay in the world or talking like you were possessed again. That's what makes it actually believable.

[ Yeah, yeah, he isn't going to contest acting like an ass. He did that, in spades, and all on purpose, so... ]

I'm glad that part, at least, is believable.

I do wish I could offer more advice for what's to come but this is the best I can do. Hopefully the forewarning at least keeps some surprises from actually catching us off-guard.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

11/24, evening

un: Mithrun1

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

[Not here]

not here

un: Ganymede

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject